Quote Originally Posted by RashanGary View Post
Nobody wants to hear this, but they can attack the whole field. The best you can do is either hope for a penalty or mental error on their part or bend and then hold in the red zone when there’s less field to cover.

But nobody likes bend but don’t break. The theory is you get aggressive and you shut down the best teams. The reality is, you get aggressive and then you lose the game before it even starts.

It’s a lot easier to stop a team when the end zone shortens the area to cover. So bend but don’t break. That’s how you cover them.

Quite literally, Joe Barry is a good defensive coordinator. He’s doing it right.
I'll ignore the last statement as 30 years of history says otherwise.

However, they don't attack the entire field. They don't have a field stretcher and even if they did Purdy doesn't have a very strong arm. The way to defend them is to get pressure up the middle, maybe using some ILB blitzes or stunts. Force Purdy off his spot and make it impossible for him to step up and set his feet. He is much less effective if he is forced to move sideways. Then just do the normal stuff that we don't usually try with our really good DC. Disrupt the routes in their infancy, give some help behind the initial 7 yards and hope you get to the QB in time. I'm not too worried about Purdy burning us deep. They don't have a Watson, or Love's arm.